The El Niño rain that’s coming down now has been forecast to stay for weeks to come. This means our neighbors living in poverty need our help now more than ever. That’s why we’ve decided to keep our Emergency Winter Shelter open through March 31. The shelter will be open from 6pm-6am and have 60 shelter beds each night, along with hot dinner, scarves, socks, hygiene kits, and breakfast. We need your help to provide a safe place for our guests for the rest of winter: Volunteer We need 4 volunteers per shift. Morning Shift ~ 5:00 am-7:00am Assist with wake-up process, help set-up, serve and clean breakfast, and assist with clean-up. Evening Shift ~ 5:30 pm -8:00 pm Help set shelter up, assist with intake, distribute blankets and other items as available, help prep, serve and clean for dinner. sign-up online email: abcahalan@stanthonysf.org Donate We need $100,000 to run our shelter this winter. To provide the services necessary for our shelter, we rely on the support of our community. You can provide a bed, a meal, and a safe place from the storms for San Franciscans who need it the most. $25 will support 1 person in our shelter per night. $1,000 will support 60 people in our shelter per night. Donate Now Contact Jessie Brierley for media inquiries at: (415)...

Meet active duty, Tech Sergeant “Dasha”, mother of at least 40 offspring, and volunteer at St. Anthony’s since she was “just a kid”! Dasha was born in 2005, and moved in with her human companion, Steve Twomey when she was 8 weeks old. Steve is also a long-term volunteer at St. Anthony’s and a Religious Studies teacher at Bishop O’Dowd High School. Steve and Dasha have led countless high school students to St. Anthony’s every Fall and Spring for years now. Dasha’s very humble about her resume! Steve has to fill in the details. She came to Steve from San Rafael’s Guide Dogs for the Blind, where Steve has been actively involved as a puppy raiser (8 weeks to 18 months) for young guide dogs. Among all these exceptional dogs, Dasha is even more extraordinary: Steve says “her temperament is unique” and really allows her to be a comfort to so many in a wide variety of circumstances. After her “retirement” from motherhood (4 litters), Dasha came to live with Steve permanently and her new career skyrocketed! Steve has even started a non-profit for her. Dasha’s main work is with Steve at O’Dowd and coming to St. Anthony’s with Steve and the students, where they typically go with the students to local Senior Adult Day Health Centers for a service component of the group’s day with us. She also has an active duty rank with the US military, giving comfort to military personnel. Dasha’s ridden in a helicopter (she “liked it!” Steve says), and most recently, her healing presence has been requested by a funeral home to be there...

We were excited to spot our long-time Dining Room volunteer Bill Bush in this San Francisco Chronicle piece about SF’s transformation into a basketball town. In the photo, Bill (pictured near the top of the stairs) and the rest of his 1955 University of San Francisco Dons basketball team are welcomed home after their NCAA Championship win. We’re lucky to have Bill and the rest of our all-star volunteer team serving hope daily in our Dining...

When you’re going on a job interview, appearance matters. It matters what suit you’re wearing and it matters how you look so you can make a good impression. However, for Veterans living in San Francisco, especially those who come to St. Anthony’s, that is not a financial reality. 2,700 Veterans in San Francisco live below the poverty line. With so little money to spend on other necessities (such as food, shelter etc.) items like purchasing new clothing for a job interview are simply not a reality. As a way to give back to our Vets who have given so much to this country, we have partnered with public and private organizations to provide 50 Veterans with a brand new suit and haircut so they can walk a little taller and with confidence when applying for housing or a job. All suits are donated from Men’s Warehouse and all stylists will be providing professional haircuts. Although we have already received many donations and contributions for this event, we are still in need of a few crucial items to make this event a smash hit! If you would like to donate, we are in need of the following items: men’s dress socks, men’s ties, and men’s dress shirts. You can drop off your donations to 121 Golden Gate Ave. San Francisco, CA 94102 Monday-Sunday from 9am-2pm. Written by Rochelle Reuter, Free Clothing Program Assistant...

St. Anthony’s is located in an old San Francisco neighborhood: the Tenderloin. Many view this neighborhood as never changing — it’s always the poorest, toughest grid of streets in this otherwise glorious city. For those who’ve lived here it seems like it’s always changing. Over the decades, various immigrant groups have landed here, gotten their feet under them and then moved on. Old buildings get renovated by a nonprofit housing group; run down parks are resurrected; new restaurants open. Some of these changes scare us. Are improvements to the neighborhood signs of gentrification? Are the all-powerful real estate interests going to claim this scarce and valuable property? Will the poor be driven from one of the last neighborhoods in San Francisco that will have them? In this past year one of the improvements that has signaled the on-going change of the Tenderloin has been the completion of St. Anthony’s new Dining Room at the corner of Golden Gate and Jones. In some ways it’s the epitome of those two views of this neighborhood. Built by an organization that’s celebrating its 65th anniversary and that was founded by Franciscans who helped establish this city, this new structure speaks of the constant, never changing commitment to those who are poor. At the same time, the new Dining Room reflects change — change that stands against any force that threatens the neighborhood’s future or disregards its residents’ right to remain. This new space and other exciting efforts in the neighborhood proclaim the Tenderloin as a vibrant and caring community in this city. There are many things to celebrate about our new Dining Room. Every day we discover new ways that our new space is enhancing our work: we’re able to provide better meals; we can make better use of the food donations that come in; and more volunteers can engage with our guests. But my most...

Gratitude: The quality of being thankful. Readiness to show appreciation for, and to return, kindness. It was my 6th week at St. Anthony’s, and our Christmas Curbside Drive was in full swing. People from around the Bay Area were coming around the clock to donate hams, turkeys, socks and scarves. On one particular afternoon, I was summoned by a staff member to speak with someone who wanted to make a monetary donation and wasn’t comfortable doing so outside under our tent. Needing some privacy, we sat down in the family and women’s area in our Dining Room, in which he pulled out $600 from inside of his sock. He shared that he was a former guest and had been saving money for the past year to give back to an organization that did so much for him when he was struggling to get, and stay, on his feet. Our donors come from all walks of life and many of them have strong and personal connections to St. Anthony’s. Many are volunteers as well as former and current guests. This man journeyed from Vallejo to express his thankfulness and appreciation in the form of a monetary gift because of the impact we made on his life. We work to be good stewards of all the gifts given to us. We are committed to expressing our joy and gratitude to God and to all who join us in our work. Helene Sims is St. Anthony’s Event...